Beam box for scales



June 30, 1925.

M. S. REYNOLDS BEAM BOX FOR SCALES Filed March 20, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1IJII h l ldlll l r III Q\ mnvgaazs June 30, 1925.

M. s. REYNOLDS BEAM BOX FOR SCALES.

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WITNQQJEs M. s. REYNOLDS BEAM BOX FOR SCALES Filed March 20, 1924 3Sheets$heet 5 Patented June 30, 1925.

UNITED STATES MELVIN S. REYNOLDS, OF'WOODLAWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

BEAM BOX FOR SCALES.

Application filed March 20, 1924. Serial No. 700,544.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN S. REYNOLDS, residing at Woodlawn, in thecounty of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvementsin Beam Boxes for Scales, of which improvements the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in the structure of weighingscales. I have developed it in application to what is called the scalebox, which constitutes a fixture applied to and forming an essentialpart of the car in which the material for charging a blast furnace isgathered from the storage bins, and from whichthe skip receives thematerial to convey it to the furnace top. It is requisite that thecomponents of the furnace charge be weighed into the car; the actualreceptacle is really a scale pan, whose beam is fulcrumed in the car;one arm of this beam carries the receptacle, the other arm carries theweights successively imposed upon it as the increments of the charge aregathered. The scale box is the unit of apparatus in which the severalWeights are successively imposed upon the scale beam. I shall describemy invention in this particular application, and the fact will beapparent that it is applicable to heavy-duty scales generally.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which Fig.I is a view in vertical and longitudinal section of a scale boxembodying my invention. Fig. II is a view in horizontal section on theplane indicated by the line IIII, Fig. I. Fig. III is a view intransverse vertical section on the plane indicated b the broken lineIIIIII, Fig. I. Fig. IV is a view in broken transverse vertical section,the plane of section to the left is indicated at IV IV, Fig. I, and theplane of section to right is indicated at 1VIV, Fig. II. Fig. V is aview in perspective of a portion of a certain lever. Fig. VI is afragmentary view in horizontal section, showing in plan from above thearticulation of certain levers.

The scale box 1 is preferably made u as shown in these figures of steelplates bo lted together. It will be understood to be ri 'dly mounted inthe frame of the car. Within the box is the scale beam. It here takesthe form of a rectangular frame 2, fulcrumed upon posts 3, which risefrom the bottom of the box as is clearly shown in Figs. I and II. Fromone arm, the arm on the left, as seen in Figs. I and II, the load ishung; to the opposite arm, the arm on the right, the weights aresuccessively applied.

Both of the opposite parallel members of the frame are provided withoppositely extending accurately aligned pivot pins 4. Structurallyindeed, there is but a single pivot pin for each of the frame members,it extends through, and so projects from opposite sides of the framemember. The pivot pins are made of suitable material for the purpose andare knife-edged in their engagement'with the bearing blocks. Incorrespondence to the doubling of the pivot pins on each side of eachframe member, the posts 3 are bifurcated and provided with pairs ofbearing blocks 5, 5. These blocks 5 are self-ali ing, in the mannerwell-known to the art, 1n that one or both of them rests in the postupon surfaces of contact which are convex one to the other. Preferablyone of each pair of bearing blocks is so constructed as to make convexbearing upon the post. Its upper surface, upon which the knife-edgedpivot pin rests, is plane; the upper surface of the companion block isV-shaped. The frame itself is made preferably of bronze; the knife-edgedpivot pins of special pivot steel, and the bearing blocks of tool steel.

To one armof the frame 2 which constitutes the beam properly so called,the weight is hung. As has been said, the receptacle of the car isitself the scale pan, and it is hung from this beam through a compoundlever mechanism, the character of which willbe understood and need nothere be explained.

. Suffice it to say that through an orifice 6 in the bottom of the scalebox 1 extends the stem 7 of a oke which is hung upon one arm, theleft-hand arm of beam 2 as seen in Figs. I and II, and it is throughthis yoke that the weight of the receptacle with its burden is broughtto bear on the scale beam. The two arms 8 of this yoke are each of thembifurcated, and through the bifurcations extend aligned orifices 9 intowhich orifices extend from opposite sides of each of the parallelmembers of the beam 2 the pivot pins 10. The pivot pins 10 like thepivot pins 4 extend through the frame members and extend oppositely, oneither side. The too are formed of special pivot steel, and they too arelniifeedged. The edges, however, are upwardly directed. The bifurcatedterminals 11 of the arms of the yoke are formed of forged steel. and itis the upper inner curve of the orifices 9 which constitute the bearingsurfaces, as illustrated in Fig. I.

I have spoken of the frame 2 as the scale beam, and so it properlytermed. The scale box, however. includes a plurality of what may becalled subsidiary or auxiliary scale beams 12. These auxiliary beams 12are ca iable of being shifted each by itself so that each alternatelymay stand either removed at an interval above and free of frame 2 andtake no part in the operation of weighing, or may come. to rest upon theframe, and so for the time constitute part of the actual and effectivescale beam. Each of these auxiliary beams 12 is provided with anadjustable weight 13. The beam is calibrated and the weight is adaptedto be adjusted with nicety to the position to afford the desiredcounterpoise when the auxiliary beam 12 which carries it is brought toposition upon frame 2 and so made in effect part of the scale beam.

These several auxiliary scale beams 12 are held in an elevated positionand remote from frame 2 by pairs of crotehed vertically reciprocatingbars 1-Ll-. These pairs of bars 1d travel in unison in ways prepared forthem in the ends of the box. and they engage the auxiliary scale beam atits ends. and as they rise and descend they alternately raise the beamfree of frame 2 and deposit it upon the frame, so that for the time itbecomes effective as part of the scale beam. In Fig. I of the drawingsone auxiliary scale beam 12 is shown in elevated position and free offrame 2.

lVithin the box and pivoted upon posts 15 and 16 are pairs of levers. 17and 18. The arrangement is that shown in Fig. l. The levers severallyare approximately half as long as the box. At the middle of the box thetwo levers of the pair engage one another by the tongue and groovetoggle ioint indicated at 19, which permits play in longitudinaldirection as the levers swing. There is a pair of these levers for eachauxiliary beam 12. At the remote ends the levers 17 and 18 are pivotedto the opposite crotched bars 14 which, movable vertically in unison,are adapted by such movement to raise and lower an auxiliary bar 12, inthe manner already described. The ways in which the 'bars 1% reciprocateallow for the slight play of the lower ends of the bars 14, in the direction longitudinal of levers 17 and 18, a play incident to lever swing.These levers 17 and 18 are formed advantageously of malleable iron.

For each pair of lovers 1'7. 18 there is a manually operable shiftinglever 20. These levers 20 are shown arranged in a bank, as

they appear in elevation. They extend through the box wall and arepivoted on suitable lugs formed internally upon thebox Wall to carrythem. Each of these levers at its inner end is stirrup shaped, and thetwo arms 21 of the bifurcation extend on eitlrer side of the proximateand outer end of one of the levers 17 and 1.8. in this case, one of thelevers 18. A pin is carried by the stirrup, extending between thebifurcations, and it extends through a slot formed in lever 18 toreceive it. The wall of this slot is so particularly shaped that aslever 20 is swung on its pivot manually back and forth between twoextreme positions, lever 18, and with it lever 17 will be swung betweenthe two extreme positions shown in Fig. I. And in consequence thecorrcspoiuling auxiliary beam 12 will be alternately raised clear fromand deposited upon frame 2. The levels 20 are preferably made ofmalleable iron. The pins 22 may ad *antageously be secured in thestirruped ends of levers 2( by cotter-pins 24:, and so the assembly mayreadily be taken down for purposes of replacement; and repair. Fig. VIshows in plan from above the articulation of lever 20 to lever 18, andit may be seen on comparing this figure with Fig. I, that the stirrupedend of the lever 20 carries the pin 22, and that the pin so carriedextends transversely through the slot 2 while the slot 23 is an elongateslot with properly curved walls formed in the enlarged end of the lever18. And it will be particularly perceived that the strains of levershifting, which are imparted from lever 20 to lever 18, center in theplane indicated by the line (i?), Fig. VI.

Scale boxes of this general form are old and my invention found inimprovements upon the old structure. The slot-andpin engagement betweenthe manually shifted levers 20 and the transmission levers l8, and thecorresponding centralization of strain througlwut the mechanism whichetl'ects the raising and lowering of the bars 12, eliminates twistingstrains, and this reduces wear, and loss of time consequent on thenecessity for repair is greatly reduced. The cotterpin connectionrenders the structure accessible for repair, to the extent that repairis needed, and no further. The whole assembly need not be taken down tomake replacement of a single part. This feature, together withstandardization of parts, still further reduces the time and work neededfor making repairs. Finally. the rigidity gained throughout givesincreased accuracy in weighing and more permanent and enduring accuracy.

The operation will easily be understood. The car is shifted and broughtopposite a particular bin, and a particular lever 20 is shifted, and aparticular auxiliary beam 12. whose weight has previously beenaccurately placed, is applied to and made part of the scale beam.Material from the bin is fed into the car until in the scale boxindication is iven that the desired weight has been ad ed. The car isthen shifted to the next bin, another lever 20 is shifted, anotherauxiliary beam 12 is added to frame 2, another increment of weight isadded to the weight arm of the beam, and again material is fed from thebin until in the scale box indication appears that the desired weight isadded. So on until the load is made up.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a scale box a pivoted frame adapted to receive an auxiliary scalebeam applied to it, a movable scale-beam support adapted in one positionto support a scale beam and in moving to alternate position to depositupon said frame a previously supported scale beam, a scale beam adaptedto be borne alternately by said frame and by said scale-beam support, amanually-controlled pivoted lever, and a transmission lever interposedbetween said beam support and said manually-controlled lever, saidtransmission lever and said manually-controlled lever being mounted toswing in a common medial lane and being connected one to the other byslot-and-pin connection, the bearing surfaces of said slot-and-pinconnection extending transversely across and being centered in suchcommon medial plane.

2. In a scale box a pi-voted frame adapted to receive an auxiliary scalebeam applied to it, a movable scale-beam support adapted when in oneposition to support a scale beam and in moving to alternate position todeposit upon said frame a previously sup ported scale beam, a scale beamadapted to be borne alternately by said frame and by said scale-beamsupport, a manually-controlled pivoted lever, and a transmission leverinterposed between said beam support and said manually-controlled lever,said transmission lever being slotted transversely and saidmanually-controlled lever being bifurcated transversely and carrying inits furcations a pin which in the assembly extends through the slot insaid transmission lever.

3. In a scale box a pivoted frame adapted to receive an auxiliary scalebeam applied to it, the said frame including opposite parallel memberseach pivoted to a support, the strain of pivoting being centered in themedian vertical lane of the frame member, an auxiliary sca e beam, amovable carrier for the auxiliary scale beam, arranged on a commoncentral plane with said beam, a manually operable shifting lever forsaid carrier pivoted in a suitable support and arranged also in a commoncentral plane with said beam and carrier, said carrier and said shiftinglever engaging one another over bearing surfaces which extend across andare centered in such common central plane.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

MELVIN S. REYNOLDS. Witnesses:

JAs. G. B. Roman, Josnrn H. TURNEY.

